I actually haven’t given Caves Of Qud a good probability. It’s a weird roguelike, an open-world exploration RPG, and a form of sandboxy world simulation. An enormous cause I haven’t given it the time it deserves is as a result of there’s a lot to it that I concern I’d by no means come out once more.
Fortunately, on Saturday its builders Freehold Games launched its “biggest update ever”, the Tomb Of The Eaters. It’s a superb alternative to show how large, detailed, and splendidly unusual it’s.
The centrepiece is of course the Tomb itself. It’s twelve storeys tall, with about 100 maps, and comprises a number of distinct (“historically striated”) sections, surrounded by new structure and archaeological options, all of that are jammed with new creatures, NPCs, and objects. Three extra factions have been added, together with a brand new village and several other quests, considered one of which is tied into the general foremost story. It’s nonetheless in early entry, and the devs overtly say they haven’t any strict timeline, and it “will remain in Early Access until you can complete the main plot”.
Caves Of Qud is large on bodily exploration, however that’s made way more fascinating by its distinctive and unique setting. Creatures are likely to kind or work together with factions, full with their very own tradition and rituals. As such, a large new constructing on this planet is all the time welcome, nevertheless it’s all of the bits tied into it which can be thrilling.
Chief amongst that may be a heap of latest issues to play with. 16 new cybernetic implants can be found, together with the “anomaly fumigator”, “anchor spikes”, and my private YES PLEASE, a bionic liver. There are new gadgets like “time dilation grenades”, a recalculation of motion velocity to a linear share quite than quadratic, and swimming and swimming pools of liquid have been rejigged to make swimming and wading extra pure. There are a few new cooking recipes, and a brand new liquid referred to as mind brine. Brain brine.
This is a game the place you would possibly get lost with a sword to battle fish mutants for the native village. It’s additionally a game with patch notes like “Spacetime vortices and rifts now deposit all objects that enter through them into a consistent destination zone (randomly determined per anomaly), rather than destroying non-player objects. Companions sucked into a vortex are unable to rejoin you until you find them.” It’s a mixing of brutish low-tech looter RPG stuff with off the wall expertise, a vaguely Mad Max crossed with Dune crossed with Dwarf Fortress affair. And now there’s extra of it.
Did you recognize that:
- “Small spheres of negative weight now add to your weight when they’re broken or otherwise inoperative”?
- “Having thirst inflicted on you by an attack no longer triggers tongue bleeding from glotrot”?
- “Robotic and otherwise inorganic creatures are no longer made thirsty by thirst thistle attacks”?
It’s excellent news, and I don’t find out about you, however I’d be close to immediately bought on a game through which “Animating an object with Spray-a-Brain no longer causes every object of that type to be recategorized as a Creature.”
Honestly, you’d do properly to take a look on the two-part patch notes. It’s laborious to select a favorite. For a little bit extra context, there’s additionally the amusing considered FPS lover Big Matt trying it out for the first time. He does okay truly, however don’t inform him that.
Caves Of Qud is on the market through Itch.io, the place it’s discounted by 10% to £10.25/$13.49/€11.24 till Monday the 27th. It’s additionally accessible on GOG at full worth.
